If-You-Were and If-I-Were Poems

The If-You-Were and If-I-Were Poems consist of 4 lines (quatrain) and 2 rhymes (lines 2 & 4). Each poem contains 2 comparisons (metaphor), one for the “I” of the poem and one for the “you.”

Instructions: Think of a person you like. Compare that person to some thing (inanimate object). Now compare yourself to some thing associated with the first object.

Examples:

The If-You-Were Poems

If you were a shining star
And I were your midnight,
I’d let you shine above me,
You’d be my only light.

If you were a scoop of ice cream
And I were an ice cream cone,
I’d put you on my shoulders
And hold you for my own.

If you were a grand piano
And I were a sweet love song,
I’d let your keys tickle and tease
My melody all day long.

If you were the pages of my book
And I were reading you,
I’d read as slow as I could go
So I never would get through.

The If-I-Were Poems

If I were a bumblebee
And you were a buttercup,
I’d buzz around until I found
Your bright face looking up.

If I were the summer rain
And you were a new rainbow,
I’d try to find the warm sunshine
So you would never go.

If I were the autumn wind
And you were a maple tree,
I’d lift your leaves with a gentle breeze
And hold them close to me.

If I were the first snowfall
And you were an evergreen,
I’d wrap you in my winter coat
And make you my Snow Queen!

Now you try it! The If-You-Were and If-I-Were Poems make great Valentines. Try writing several of them, one for each of your friends and family members. The titles of your poems can be your friends’ and family members’ names. You might want to make a little book of them and decorate it with your drawings.

Have fun writing, drawing and sharing!

For more examples of the If-You-Were poems, please see the new book If You Were My Valentine by Charles Ghigna (Simon & Schuster, 2005).